The PSOE holds its breath before Zapatero appears

MadridIf there is an image that summarizes how the PSOE is experiencing this week, already dubbed horribilis, it is that of a person holding their breath. Pedro Sánchez's party has been waiting for many days for former president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to sit before Judge José Luis Calama and explain himself. This Wednesday will be D-day: Zapatero is summoned at 9 in the morning at the headquarters of the National Court in Madrid, he will arrive by car and has been authorized to enter through the main door, through which judges pass, due to his institutional level as former president of the government. He is the first in democracy to have been indicted by the justice system.

Until now, argue from the socialist ranks, only the "leaked" reports from the UCO have been explained, and they are eager for their moral leader to present an alternative version of events. That is, they trust that everything that has been known so far – from third-party messages speaking of his intervention in the Plus Ultra rescue to jewelry valued at 1.3 million euros – can be clarified and understood by the public once Zapatero speaks.

"He is eager" to testify, assures those close to the former president, who do not rule out that after appearing in court he will also address the media. Nevertheless, Zapatero had requested to postpone the judicial declaration, at least regarding the jewelry found in his office, which has led to a separate case concerning tax fraud and smuggling. A request that this Tuesday the judge has completely rejected: in an order, he has maintained the agreed date and said that the decision "does not diminish" Zapatero's right to defense because no new facts have been added to the case. Despite the new crimes attributed to him since Friday, he argues that he already knew that the Civil Guard had seized the jewelry and assures that it "does not alter the factual object nor introduce surprising elements that require additional preparation time." Only the value of the expert report of 1.3 million euros has been added, in fact.

Therefore, the former president will have to answer about the two branches of the case: the alleged influence peddling for the Plus Ultra rescue of 53 million euros and also for the jewelry found during the search of his office. Despite all the information that has been coming to light and the silence that Zapatero has maintained until now, both Moncloa and the PSOE continue to trust him. From Ferraz, in fact, they have maintained contact with the former president in recent weeks and assure that he will go beyond the procedural strategy of seeking the annulment of the case – his lawyer is a specialist in this – and that he will go into "everything". From the Spanish government they do not specify if there has been a line of communication between Zapatero and Sánchez or some ministers, but they emphasize that nothing would happen if there had been. What's more, this Tuesday the spokesperson for the Spanish government, Elma Saiz, has come out in defense of Zapatero's "social legacy". "He placed Spain at very high levels of rights", she said.

However, from Moncloa they opt for prudence and to ask that the pace of justice be respected. They do not hide their discomfort with the continuous leaks from judicial cases, especially – they recall – because the Attorney General of the State, Álvaro García Ortiz, has been convicted for a leak that they say he did not commit. With this criterion, they reject, for example, commenting on the value of Zapatero's jewelry: "We will only position ourselves in front of an official document".

The parallel scenario of the Congress of Deputies

In socialist ranks they know that this Wednesday will be a tough day. It should be taken into account that this is a closed-door statement, since we are in the investigation phase, and it is possible that throughout the morning only part of the former Spanish president's statement will begin to be explained. In fact, Zapatero's lawyer, Víctor Moreno Catena, had asked the judge that the popular prosecutions – Hazte Oír, Vox Manos Limpias, Liberum, Ciutadans and Valores – not be present at the interrogation because "defenselessness" could be generated. A request that Calama has also rejected.

And it is that at the moment Zapatero enters the National Court, the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, will arrive at the Congress of Deputies, where he will have to undergo the plenary control session. The PP and Vox will take advantage of the scenario to further increase the decibels against the Spanish government for the alleged corruption of the former president, and it is expected that the partners will also pressure him to explain himself not only about the Zapatero case but also about the Leire Díez case, the alleged plot orchestrated by Santos Cerdán to dismantle cases that affected the PSOE.

With the fear that something else might happen

This Tuesday evening, in the courtyard of Congress, there was speculation about the possibility of two additional bombshells of information falling: the verdict in the Ábalos case, which would be the first conviction of Sánchez's former associate, and Juan Carlos Peinado's decision regarding Begoña Gómez's passport withdrawal. "I can't even imagine it," they say from Moncloa about this latter possibility, as it would imply preventing the Spanish president's wife from leaving the country. "How can there be a flight risk for someone who is escorted all day?" they ask from the executive regarding a potential decision by Peinado. Faced with this scenario, however, Moncloa has vowed to stay the course: to hold on until 2027, no matter what.